Here’s a fun overdue post, about my night at the Brooklyn Museum! 🐉 Continue reading
From the first time I learned that we were having an event at the Brooklyn Museum, I was excited. I had only been to the Brooklyn Museum once before this event, but it was one of my favorite museums to visit because of the diverse art I found there. The Brooklyn Museum had exhibits from the ancient Egyptian time all the way to 21st century contemporary art, and the second time I went to the museum made me fall in love with it even more.
My friend and I got to the museum about an hour early, so we had plenty of time to roam around the first floor. The exhibit was called “Connecting Cultures”. The pieces on the first floor were extremely interesting. My friend knew a lot about the Hindu art and explained to me what the different sculptures meant. My favorite piece on the first floor was the mirror that had two people facing towards you as you were looking at the mirror. It was like you were inside the mirror and the people were looking at you from the surface of the mirror.
When everyone made their groups and began to look at the various exhibits, my group decided to start with the Egyptian art on the third floor. I personally wasn’t extremely excited about the Egyptian art because I’ve seen similar pieces in other museums like the MET. After the Egyptian art, we stayed on the third floor and checked out the European paintings. I really liked this exhibit. I like to paint and the painting in this exhibit inspired me. A lot of them were larger than life and felt important. My favorite paintings in this exhibit were the Soviet Union paintings because I used to live in Uzbekistan during the time of the Soviet Union and it was interesting to see the point of view in these paintings.
I liked the sculptures and paintings on the first few floors, but the exhibit I was most excited for was the video game room. When we got to the room we all immediately started to take snapchats and selfies because it was so interactive and different than all the other exhibits. We also made sure to play all the games and played a few rounds of foosball (I won). The last thing we checked out was the sneaker gallery.My brother would’ve loved this exhibit because he’s a huge sneaker head. I didn’t think I’d be too excited for this gallery, but surprisingly it was pretty cool.
My favorite part of the museum was probably the arcade room. The atmosphere inside the room felt like a was part of an actual video game and the old-school games were silly, but definitely fun. Like I said before, the diversity in the art at the Brooklyn Museum was incredible. They displayed ancient Egyptian jewelry in the same building as the newest sneakers that are out, which is what I think makes the museum special.
Anyway, here are a few extremely low quality pictures I took at the museum. Enjoy!
On Wednesday, September 9, we went to the Brooklyn Museum. At first, I wasn’t too psyched to be spending my night staring at pieces of art. I can’t lie – I was more excited to see my friends. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t bummed out or annoyed or anything, I just wasn’t too excited.
After the introductory session at the museum, I got a group together, and we began roaming around the museum. We took a look at a few paintings, and I read the descriptions for all of them. They seemed pretty interesting, but nothing too special.
As the night progressed, however, and I saw more works of art and read more about different paintings, I started to realize that I was actually starting to enjoy myself. I was no art critic, and I’m sure many comments I made sounded flat-out dumb, but I knew that these comments were my comments, and that gave them a genuine, pure feeling.
My favorite work of art in the museum was “Fallen Bierstadt”, by Valerie Hegarty. It shows a Bierstadt imitation, however, the bottom of the painting is burnt and decaying, with burnt pieces of the painting laying like ashes on the floor underneath. This painting stuck out like a sore thumb, yet somehow, it simultaneously blended into the environment, and seemed to be in its natural place. This paradox really fascinated me, and I was hooked on this painting.
Having lived in New York City my whole life, I didn’t even know Brooklyn had its own museum until I found out we had to go there as a class. I wasn’t thrilled to hear we had to record our conversations about art pieces, but I still decided to go. After almost taking the wrong train and finally making it out of the train station, I was surprised to see that the museum had some nice architecture, which made it a work of art itself. Continue reading
There was this one time in high school when I got really excited, and then not so much. My art teacher had arranged for my class to see the Kehinde Wiley exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, but then the trip turned out be on the same day as my registration advising session for Macaulay. It was a real bummer, but everything worked out in the end. With this trip to the Brooklyn Museum, the college got a chance to make up for wronging me in the past. Although, the Kehinde Wiley exhibition was no longer there. :/
I think part of what really makes a museum experience meaningful is the group of people you experience the museum with. I had a good group so…shout out to my group. You know who you are.
Okay, so that was my failed attempt at making a joke about my night at the museum being like the movie… don’t get it? Alright, moving on.
Upon being asked in class, I was ashamed to say that I never visited the Brooklyn Museum. But, fortunately with Macaulay, I am able to venture out of my comfort zone and explore all these places I have never seen before. After being soaked by the glorious Brooklyn rain, I dried off in the subway to the museum, not knowing what to expect, my imagination running wild with anticipation and excitement. However, as soon as I got out of the underground station, I was graced with a funny sight — a rainbow arching right over the museum. It had to be a sign, right?
But, to be real for a second, it was a very hot day, so stepping foot into the museum provided immediate relief – a rush of cool air. After standing on the crowded line and getting through the beginning procedures, my eyes feasted on so many pieces of art and I was inexplicably curious to know just their name/title, as if that would give me insight to their story. Sure, in class we talk about art almost every session, discussing art on the micro level by observing brush strokes, and even the macro level by talking about possible motivations for specific pieces art, but this experience was completely different. I am not sure that my words will do justice in trying to explain the feeling I had, but the art felt brighter, more alive, and relevant to me. Looking at art through a projector was not even close to coming face to face with someone’s original thought, their expression, their hand-made creation. Even so, simply looking at the art a few feet away didn’t feel as if it was enough. I wanted to touch the art, almost hoping to experience the same emotion perhaps the artist did when creating their masterpiece.
Walking through the museum with my friends, of course like typical teenagers, we goofed around and didn’t pay attention to every single piece of art, but when we did, it was a surprise to all of us. What I found most funny was walking through the museum and seeing something we learned or discussed in class and exclaiming to everyone else, “OMG, DO YOU REMEMBER THIS?” or “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I’VE SEEN THIS BEFORE”, and even, “Guys, I got this. Let me tell you a thing or two about [insert art masterpiece here]”. In all seriousness though, it didn’t make sense because recognizing a piece of art should not make you so excited, but it was as if I was meeting an old friend – I knew things about that perhaps others didn’t, and that made it really special. But, I think my favorite part of the night was spending it with my friends. Instead of just talking to each other and having empty, virtually fruitless conversations as usually do, we were able to have real, authentic, intellectual discussions about art, which ended up opening us in an almost vulnerable manner, and bringing us closer — which was really nice, to put it simply.
But, wait, the coolest part was definitely the sneaker exhibit, which had every single sneaker you could think of, and the second coolest (or maybe a tie) was probably the special “light-up-neon-really-cool-fake-rave” exhibit (yeah, unfortunately I didn’t get the name of it by the end of the night), which showed New York, or so I thought, in the most ravishing colors and interesting images.
Overall, my experience at the Brooklyn Museum was one to remember, and you’ll definitely catch me there in the near future showing off this masterpiece in my new home, Brooklyn.
Here are some mediocre-iPhone quality images from the museum… enjoy!
As you can see from the gracious Snapchat tag, I was able to see the beautiful park slope not too far away from the subway.
Sneaker exhibition!
What I thought to be a really powerful piece of art, where the green glowing “dots” represented souls and spirits of loved ones lost due to HIV/AIDs.
“They’re definitely taking a selfie!”
I tried to be artsy with my angles…
“Angles” part 2.
P.S. There was some really awesome party being thrown for the director of the museum right near the Egyptian exhibit, so, uh, hey Macaulay, if you ever want to have a party for your awesome Class of 2019… *cough, cough*
The reasons I joined Macaulay were affirmed by my experience at the Brooklyn Museum. Even though I lived in New York City all my life, I haven’t fully took advantage of the rich cultural institutions and landmarks that it provides. I want to see them, and even if we go over a fraction, it’s worth it. Macaulay for better, not for worse, makes sure I will visit these amazing places. And that makes me extremely appreciative.
The moment I got out of the train station, I was already amazed. The Brooklyn Museum building itself was something straight out of ancient Rome. The building was beautifully designed and was much larger than I was expecting it to be. As I walked in to the friendly greetings by the staff at the lobby room, I already felt a sense of luxury. It’s hard to explain, and maybe luxury is not the right word, but it felt like walking into a 5 star hotel. Knowing that the museum was reserved to us really gave me a feeling of being spoiled. I was lucky to find my friends right away and when we joined together into a group to discuss the art, I think we really all entered the mojo of what it’s like to absorb and experience famous and exquisite art. When I entered the art exhibits, there were many pieces of art that I just glanced over, but to my surprise, the amount of times that a piece of art caught my attention exceeded my expectation. Sometimes when the art was vague and I really was mesmerized by the atmosphere it made me feel, I quickly pulled out my phone and opened wikipedia. I wanted to know more and that’s I think how you know a piece of art is really something special. It was particularly exciting when I was art that we discussed and saw on the board in class. It really is true that you can’t appreciate it until you see it with your own eyes.
If all our visits are going to be as special as my experience at the museum, then I know this class is going to really be something special and something that I won’t be forgetting. I’m particularly looking forward to the opera.
The experience at the Brooklyn Museum last Wednesday was truly amazing. From the moment of entry, you were given the opportunity to explore pieces of art which you found unique. Later on, when the groups were formed, not only were you led from one exhibit to another, but you were in a way forced to analyze the complexity of each piece of art. Instead of simply pointing out, “Oh that’s nice. That’s nice too,” like Professor Ugoretz showed in the Simpsons video, you dug deeper into the origins of that art, and what the artist felt when he was making the piece. If I had to choose specific works, I would say that the Faile and Bast exhibit, as well as the Egyptian exhibit were my favorites.
In the Faile and Bast exhibit, not only were you able to see the art, but you were also given an opportunity to interact with it. Unlike today, where there are barely any old fashion arcades around, this exhibit provided the opportunity to enter a world from the 1950’s. Despite the fact that most of the pinball machines were broken, the room with the illuminated posters was intriguing, in that it seemed like a mix between the modern and abstract art.
Nearby, was the Faile temple, or at least a replica of it. Although it wasn’t the original, you got to see the exact size of it. Unlike most temples, which are huge, the Faile temple was quite small. Yet, it managed to incorporate prayer wheels and various cultural imagery, both on the inside and outside walls. By seeing the iron, ceramic, and paint which went into building it, you got a sense of how much time and planning it took into building it.
Finally, the last exhibit which I most enjoyed was the Egyptian collection. Although mostly everyone saw mummies or other Egyptian artifacts in pictures beforehand, seeing it in person greatly extended my appreciation for this form of art. Only thinking about its age, showed how much effort was put into making it, so that it wouldn’t degrade. When taking a closer look at the manuscripts, you could see the precision that went into painting various drawings. Aside from this, you could also imagine the amount of time it took to complete these works of art.
Overall, the experience at the Brooklyn Museum was phenomenal. In the end, you realized that not enough time was given to appreciate the art to its fullest extent. If I was given the opportunity to stay longer, I would gladly take it.
– Ben K
My experience at the Brooklyn Museum was a very interesting one to say the least. My group consisted of some new friends and some old ones, some I had made through Macaulay and some people from my high school that just so happened to be in the same group, Rembrandt, as me. Our diffuse group walked through the museum with two main purposes: to see the Egyptian exhibit and to see the sneakers.
When we made it to the Egypt exhibit we all split up and wandered around in silence for some time, which I think was really beneficial for us. We didn’t spend the whole time talking to each other before we got together and made our recording. One of the things that struck me about the Egyptian exhibit was the intricacy of every sculpture and painting and sarcophagus. No matter the size of the piece of art, there was such fine detail that was incredibly advanced for the time at which it was created. My group decided to record our commentary on a particular coffin. It was a huge granite rectangular prism that was said to hold a prince and his wife. A specific thing we found interesting about the coffin was that there were holes in the top of it. These holes were functional, made so that people, presumably slaves, could put sticks through it and carry on their backs. We found beauty in functionality because the perfectly circular holes contrasted with the perfectly geometric coffin.
The sneaker exhibit was a completely different animal, the room itself being modern with videos of fashion shows playing on the walls and the artifacts being from as recently as 2015. One of the members of my group ran track, so he was giving us a little extra information about the different types of running shoes and cleats. One thing I personally found interesting about the exhibit were the chucks thrown along the artificial telephone wires throughout the room. It was a small detail that you wouldn’t have noticed unless you looked up, but for me it was the best part of the exhibit. Seeing this flooded my mind with images of my father’s stories of him being a little boy in Dyker Heights and throwing his shoes up on a telephone wire. It was a testimony to Brooklyn within this museum and this exhibit that showcased artifacts from all over the world.
My first impression of the museum
A small Egyptian artifact
Group selfie with the coffin!
Sneakers from the exhibit, credit to one of my other group members, Kavindu
The Brooklyn Museum after dark
My experience at the Brooklyn museum was much more exciting than I thought it would be. I was able to meet new people from Hunter College and old high school friends from Queens College that became part of my group. All of us truly enjoyed the exhibits. The exhibits that particularly fascinated me were The Mummy Chamber, The Rise of the Sneaker Culture, and American Identities: A New Look.
The Mummy Chamber contained many precious relics from the Ancient Egyptian time period. I was amazed how well preserved the mummies and sarcophagi were. The sheer volume of the collection surprised me as well. In fact, according to the Brooklyn Museum website their collection contains more than 170 objects that “explore the complex rituals related to the practice of mummification and the Egyptian belief that the body must be preserved in order to ensure eternal life.”
Prior to visiting the Brooklyn Museum, I never thought that sneakers could be considered art, unlike my younger brother. As far as I was concerned, they were something you put on to protect your feet and keep them comfortable. It turns out that many see them as an “urban icon.” The exhibit explored the social history, technical innovations, fashion trends, and marketing campaigns of sneakers over the past two centuries.
My favorite exhibit was the American Identities: A New Look. I’ve always been a huge fan of American History. The art, however, allowed me to visualize it. My group discussed two paintings from this section: George Washington by Gilbert Stuart and Fallen Bierstadt by Valerie Hegarty. What I liked the most about these two paintings, and the American art section in general, was that there many small details that provide hints to the time period that the painting depicts, although, they could be interpreted in many different ways. For instance, the rainbow in the background of the painting of George Washington may represent a symbol of peace after revolution and the prosperous beginnings for America.
Here are some of the pictures that I took with my phone:
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